- Do Border Collies
come in colors? Border Collies are most traditionally seen in
the black and white variety, however they do come in other colors.
For example, black and white tri, red and white, red and white tri,
blue merle, blue merle tri, red merle, white with black markings,
ticked, mottled, and sable. Border collies should be bred for their
ability to do their job, versus breeding for looks. This is why
border collies come in such a variety of looks.
- What are BC's like as
pets? As a rule, BC's are not easy pets. They require a lot of
attention and training, typical pet owners find them too intense or
energetic. BC's are workaholics and require a lot of
attention and training.
- I have a yard for the
dog to run in, isn't that enough? No. BC's are extremely
intelligent animals and they need much more mental stimulation than
mindless running. If you cannot provide them a job to do, oftentimes
they will find their own things to keep them busy, i.e. digging,
jumping fences (many BC's can easily jump a 6' fence), chewing, and
other destructive behaviors.
- What is Living with a
Herding Dog Like? Be sure you know what you're getting into if
you think you want a Border Collie. Border Collies have been bred
for hundreds of years to hone and refine a very strong instinct to
herd sheep. Border Collies herd everything that moves: livestock,
birds, other dogs, cats, children, and even bugs. Many people have
absolutely no patience with the way the herding instinct displays
itself and operates in a family situation, and many Border Collies
end up abandoned at the local dog pound because of it. Border
Collies run hard, they chase children (sometimes biting them because
they won't stop or move in a certain direction), they throw toys at
you nonstop, they are continually underfoot trying to herd, they
jump up on people, they bark a lot when they are playing, they love
to chew and dig, they rarely lie down and sleep when they are young,
and they mature very slowly. Many, many young Border Collies are
killed each year trying to herd cars by running in front of them.
- Are Border Collies
Good with Children? Though some individual Border Collies are
very gentle with children, one of the most common reasons people
give when they turn a Border Collie over to rescue or a shelter, is
that they nip or snap at the children in the family. This is most
often not a sign of viciousness, but rather a problem caused by
their intense herding instinct. To a Border Collie, children are
often livestock. When a Border Collie wants a child to do something
and the child doesn't cooperate, the dog's instinct tells it to push
harder, and they often nip quite hard. This instinct cannot be
eliminated, but can and must be controlled by consistent training.
- Is a Border Collie
Right for Me? The people who make the most satisfied Border
Collie owners are people who enjoy spending a lot of time with their
dogs and are willing and able to make the commitment to exercise and
train in some way every day...who are very active, who don't mind
living with a dog that never really settles down, even in the house,
even after a lot of exercise, even when the owner is tired from a
long day at work...most important, who have a real job for the dogs
to do, whether it's one of the dog sports at which these dogs excel
or, of course, herding a flock of sheep.
- Some of this information
was obtained from:
http://bcrescue.dogsaver.org/
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